001[music] Goodbye. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Happy birthday to you. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Oh [music] yeah. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat [music] up [music] here. Okay. Good evening and welcome to the board of education meeting for school district 6 on January 26, 2026. This meeting will now come to order. Please
002join us for the pledge of allegiance. [clears throat] >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Miss Lemon, will you please call the role? >> Director, >> present. >> Director Bentley, >> present. >> Director Campos Spitzy, >> present. Director Edmonds, >> present. Director Lammo Garcia, >> present. >> Director Mash, >> present. >> Director Roi, >> present. All board members present. >> Well, hope you all are staying warm. It got up to a balmy 35 degrees today. My son was lobbying for a late start, but we [laughter] we didn't need that today. Um, well, the board of education has been off to a busy start at the beginning of this semester.
003We've done a couple of school visits and um and we're always happy to participate in celebrations. And so we wanted to offer our heartfelt congratulations to the gap and next graduates um who graduated on Saturday and um just always thrilled to get to celebrate with our students and um celebrate their accomplishments and their hard work. And then we got to celebrate our our staff and our amazing educators in every corner of our district at the success and six awards as well. And so congratulations to all who are nominated and to those who were um given that beautiful um statueette or to put on their man mantle. Um but we once again want to just offer our heartfelt thanks to every single person who touches the lives of our students here in district 6. Um our
004student success isn't possible without each of you. Um our next item on the agenda is an approval of the agenda. So that is an action item require a motion. >> I move that the board of education at Greley Evans School District 6 approves the agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you both. Is there any discussion on the agenda? >> Seeing none, Miss Lemon, will you call the vote, please? >> Director Zari, >> I. >> Director Bentley, >> I. >> Director Campos Spitzy, >> I. >> Director Edmonds, >> I. >> Director Lemos Garcia, >> I. >> Director Mesh, >> I. >> Director Roi, >> I. >> Motion carries 70. We have two special items this this evening. The first one is a proclamation for Black History Month. This is also an action item that will
005require a motion. I move that the board of education of Gley Evans School District 6 proclaim February 2nd through 6th to Oh, sorry. I'm on the counselor. Um, again, I move that the board of education of Gley Evans School District 6 approves the proclamation recognizing February 2026 as Black History Month as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you both. Mr. Edmonds, will you please read the pro proclamation? >> Whereas Black History Month celebrates the profound contributions of Americans tracing their ancestry to Africa and has been proclaimed by every US president since 1976. hand. Whereas Gley Evans School District 6 is home to more than 700 students of African descent, representing over 3% of our student body and a vital part of our school community. And whereas Black History Month is a is a homage to the
006achievements of black Americans who have shaped American history from Buffalo Soldiers to the highest offices of President and Vice President of the United States of America. And whereas District 6 is an institution of public education and is it is imperative that our schools teach the history of black Americans and their experience living in the United States. And whereas the contributions of Americans who are of African descent in fields of science, politics, medicine, education, the arts, and a multitude of additional career fields have enriched our nation's progress, improving the lives of all Americans. And whereas the art, food, dance, music, and culture of black Americans is woven into the fabric of American culture. Now therefore, be it proclaimed that the board of education of Gley Evans School District 6 recognizes and celebrates February 1 through February
00728, 2026 as Black History Month and encourages all students, families, staff, and community members to honor the legacy of our citizens of African descent and celebrate their enduring impact on schools, our nation, and our world. >> Thank you, Director Edmmonds. We'll open it up for comments from board members. Dr. Campos Spitzy. >> And so I love this time of year um after MLK Day or during MLK Day um when social media is peppered with inspirational and moving quotes um from Martin Luther King Jr. Um the one that spoke to me the most this year um was his quote of injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And I don't think I only speak for myself, but this last month has been very difficult. Um, I wanted to share um something that also popped up
008on my social media. Um, to celebrate Black History Month, I wanted to share the story of 14-year-old EMTT Till. In 1955, EMTT Till was visiting Mississippi from Chicago when he was kidnapped and murdered after whistling at a white woman. Despite his mother's grief, his mom insisted, she insisted that her son be displayed in a glass topped casket so the world could see his beaten body because she knew that if they didn't see it for themselves, no one would believe it. His casket was held open for days and hundreds of thousands of people came to see him. Till's murder uh became a rallying point for the civil rights movement. It motivated people who were on the fence to stand against racism. It encouraged them to get in the fight and do something about it. Rosa Parks,
009when she was asked about her refusal to give up her bus seat, famously stated, "I thought about EMTT till and I could I couldn't go back." So, just wanted to share that. I I think it's very relevant in our current climate that we're seeing things that I hope spark something that gives us the courage to fight and do something and not go back. >> Thank you, Director Campus Spitzy. Um I I enjoy um whenever we get to celebrate our students and our staff and our families in a specific way. So um I look forward to voting for this proclamation. Miss Lemon, will you please call the vote? >> Director Zari >> I. >> Director Bentley >> I. >> Director Campos Spitzy >> I. >> Director Edmonds >> I. >> Director Lamos Garcia >> I. >>
010Director Mash >> I. >> Director Roi >> I. Motion carries 70. And now I would like to invite Gley West students Marcos Rodriguez and Hanifeha Adam to come and accept this proclamation. Okay. Good evening. My name is Hanifha Adam and I'm a junior at Gley West High School. I want to start by thanking the board for this proclamation and for recognizing the importance of Black History Month. This month gives us the opportunity not only to honor the achievements, resilience, and contributions of black leaders and communities, but also to reflect, learn, and continue the work of progress and inclusion in our schools. On behalf of our students and community, thank you for your commitment to education, representation, and progress. I would now like to welcome Marcos Rodriguez, the chair of the Black History Month committee, to
011share what we have planned this year. >> Hello, my name is Marcos Rodriguez. I'm the chair of the Black History Month committee. This year at GU West, we are going to continue to the tradition of highlighting black musicians and artists across genres and decades. We are also showcasing influential black figures with each of our four core subjects and displaying them throughout the hallways. These efforts help bring black history into our everyday learning and not just for this month, but but throughout the whole year. And again, I'm honored to accept this proclamation and I appreciate the district's commitment to honoring black history and supporting students as we learn and grow together. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. And the next special item we have is to proclaim National School Counseling Week. This is
012also an action item. I move that the board of education of Glean School District 6 proclaims February 2nd through 6, 2026 as National School Counseling Week as presented. >> Second. >> Thank you both. Director Leos Garcia, will you please read the proclamation? >> Yes. >> Proclamation recognizing February 2nd through the 6, 2026 as National School Counseling Week. Whereas school counselors serves serve as advocates in our schools dedicated to empowering every student to reach their highest potential. And whereas school counselors are deeply committed to helping students explore their abilities, strengths, interests, and talents as they navigate career exploration and future pathways. And whereas school counselors partner with families to foster the academic, personal, and social growth of their children. And whereas school counselors collaborate with teachers, other educators to help students realize their capabilities, establish meaningful
013achievable goals for their future. And whereas school counselors seek seek to identify and utilize community resources to enrich comprehensive school counseling programs and prepare students to become contributing contributing productive members of society. And whereas comprehensive development school counseling programs are considered an important part of the educational process providing the support necessary for all students to thrive and achieve success in schools. Now therefore be it proclaimed that the board of education of Gley Evans School District 6 recognizes and celebrates February 2nd through February 6, 2026 as National School Counseling Week. Thank you very much. I will open up for comments and director Campos Fitzy. Um so school counselors uh we all know that they do um an important job in our schools. Um they help support our kids um emotional well-being and teach them how to
014be good citizens of the world. Um, I know in in my kids uh elementary school, both my kids interacted with their school counselor this last week. Um, one she came into the class to talk about coping skills and um when you're feeling overwhelmed, how to take a break, how to um what was the second? I I was using them for myself. It was taking a break, telling yourself um everything will be okay. And there was a third one that I'm forgetting. But um so that was her coming into a classroom of kindergarteners and teaching them these these really important skills. Um the other interaction my kids had or my other child had with the counselor was in a not so positive way. So um she had a visit to the principal's office um and she
015had made some bad decisions. she had not listened to her conscience. And the way the school counselor was able to support her in learning from that mistake in um Natalie called these the restorative justice sheets in saying, "I'm sorry for dot dot dot." And she filled in the blank. Next time I will uh fill in the blank. Can I do anything to make it better? Um so she filled one of these for one of her teachers. Um, and then her school counselor, she came home with this, helped her write out a whole scheme on how she might um regain confidence among some adults whom she'd lost confidence with. Uh, and she came home and brought this and I just thought it was so excellent. And I also know, you know, she's one of 20 or
016one of 30 students in her first grade class. for for a teacher to have to take the time out to do this would be too much for a teacher to have to do that on top of teaching 30 students. Um, so it just highlighted for me the importance of having this extra support person in the building, a trusted adult that my kid knew she could she actually asked her teacher to go talk to the school counselor so she could come up with a plan to make things right. Um so anyway um can't speak more highly to our supports for our students and and go school counselors. >> Thank you Director Azari. >> Thank you Dr. Compositzy for those words. Uh counselors are are essential in the system. I have the honor to serve on the
017district's wellness committee and our school counselors play a very very important role on that committee. And uh being a former staff member of the school district, I'd like to just highlight and point out and a lot of us know this that the counseling role in our schools is very diverse. We have the counselors at the elementary level of course and the middle school level. We talk about the restorative justice that Dr. Brenda Compost Spitzy brought up, but we also have the counselors at the high school level that in a lot of cases literally help the students get across that graduation stage and uh they track their progress daily and work with those students sometimes in very trying circumstances. So, uh, we, uh, in this proclamation, uh, I would hope that we don't take that lightly,
018that we recognize the significance of the counselors in our district. So, thank you all for what you do for our kids and our families and our staff members. >> Thank you, Director Azari. I don't know why I always forget to acknowledge you guys at the beginning of the meeting, but we do have our council of student representatives with us today and so I would like to give Miss Sarah Venegas the opportunity to speak. >> Thank you, President Mash. So, from a student's point of view, right, counselors, we see them every day. We talk to them every day and they truly are like the backbone of students. They really build us up to get us across that finish line. Because going into high school, it's something so stressful, something so new. It's something so different from
019middle school where you're trying to find yourself. And then high school, it's like, okay, you just found yourself, but who are you really trying to be? And counselors really try and help find who we want to be. What career do we want to pursue? Do you want to do trade school? Do we want to go into the workforce? Do we want to continue with college? So they're really just supportive not only in our academics but of course our mental health being high school students personally is extremely stressful and my counselor is always there. What do you need? What do you need from me? What can I do for you? So they really are just that big support system that is individualized to each student and their support. So I just can't thank counselors enough for
020all the work they do for us. Thank you. >> Thank you Miss Tobar. Thank you, President Mash. Um, I love this proclamation because sometimes I feel like our counselors are overlooked at my school and they're genuinely like a really big part as to why our school, you know, keeps running. They do all the scheduling and they figure out all of that stuff and they're always the good guy like you guys were saying. Like they they don't get us in trouble. Like they're always there for you whether that's for your mental health or anything like that. And I think it's really important that we do um acknowledge them and recognize them for all of their hard work because they're very essential. So yeah. >> Thank you, Director Edmonds. >> Uh yeah, I just I just wanted
021to talk uh briefly just how important it is for school counselors for us uh when it comes to being career and college ready. Uh just knowing that it's hard for teachers who are teaching a specific subject to be able to to know the full story of a student. So, what's great about our counselors um is they are a huge part of that 90.1% graduation rate because they're helping them not only make a connection within themselves, but within the community. And I think I spotted our high school counselor of the year in the audience with us as well. So, we've got we've got some amazing counselors here in this district that are not only receiving recognition every May when we have graduates walking across the stage, but it's noticed even statewide that we that we have
022an amazing special thing here. and it it goes beyond just the teachers in the classroom. It's it's everybody. So, um I'm very uh appreciative for what the counselors do for our students. >> Thank you all. And I'm sure we we really don't even have a full concept of all the things that you do. Um I'm going to steal a word picture that Mr. Bentley used in our work session. He was talking about another complicated piece of education being like the biggest Rubik's cube in the world. And I'm pretty sure that's what figuring out student schedules is like. Um I know there was some student that was trying to figure out how to code that for you. I don't know if he ever got that up and running, [laughter] but that sounds like a crazy a
023crazy heavy lift. So um we're so pleased to get to honor you this way. So let us take a vote. Director >> I. >> Director Bentley. >> Hi. >> Director Campos Spitzy. >> I. >> Director Edmonds. >> I. >> Director Lamos Garcia >> I. >> Director Mash >> I. Director Roi >> I. >> Motion carries 70. >> Thank you. And now I would like to invite um Deb Hec, our lead counselor, to accept this proclamation. I just like to quote go counselors. What a way to start that. [laughter] Um, yes, my name is Deb Pec and I'm the lead school counselor for the district and I just want to thank the board, Dr. Pilch, our cabinet for the recognition and just ongoing support of counselors in our district. Um, and I have a few that
024brave the cold tonight, few of our over 50 counselors we have across the district. And just for you to put a name and to the face and I'll let them introduce themselves. >> Hi, I'm Michelle Bush. I'm the uh middle school counselor at Wintergrad K8 School. Um this is my first year actually in district 6. Um but I do have 13 years experience as a school counselor. Um and I'm really enjoying being here. Thank you. Hello board. Um Claudia Kesler been in the district for 10 years. Um I love Girly Central. I I love my school district and thank you so much for supporting us. Um, I know we've we've gone through a lot and um, but we've made a lot of big steps forward. So, but I do want to say I want to
025say a really short story about Abby. [laughter] So, these are the stories that just keep us counselors going, right? Like every day we wake up because we have just awesome students like her. So, one day, um, it was I think it was like 3:00. She had to turn in a scholarship video at 3:30 and I was working on some data. And she comes in and she's like, "Miss, I need to record something." I'm like, "Okay." She's like, "Can I use your office?" I'm like, "Sure." Um, so she started recording and then she would mess up and I'm like, "Do you want me to hide under the desk?" like, you know, so I was actually hiding under the desk so she can use my desk and use like the pretty background and she I was just
026like, "Don't worry, like I'm not here. I'm cheering you under the table." Um, but she submitted it and it was beautiful. And I still have that video. I think you even use my phone. Yeah, cuz I have that video. Um, but just stories like that that just brings us joy, you know, and just seeing our kids succeed and I just love it and I just want to appreciate you guys for this. So, thanks. >> Yes, I'd like to echo my colleagues and thank you all very much for your appreciation of our profession tonight. My name is Courtney Fay. Um, I'm a counselor at Chapel K8 Arts Magnet School and this is my 18th year in district 6. So, thank you very much. >> I just wanted to say thank you for spending your career here
027and also welcome and yes, thank you for sharing a personal story as well. We're so thrilled to have you here. All right, we're moving on to superintendence report. So, Dr. Pelch, your turn. >> I think you have council student reps >> before me. Hey, Principal Casey and his students from University High School. Sorry about that. >> Um, my name is Jeff Casey. Good evening. I'm the principal at University High School and it is my pleasure to introduce two of our amazing students who get to represent our school on the Council of Student Representatives. >> Good evening board. President Mash, Dr. Pilch, thank you so much for having us here. My name is Blake Worman >> and I'm and I'm Dominic Madreal. >> We are two of the university schools representatives on the Council of Student
028Representatives and we want to just give you a short little spiel tonight about basically a couple things going on at our school. First, we want to address a couple of things that we think are really cool from our school and the broader district could learn from in some capacity. Second, we want to give you a student perspective on a big problem facing our generation. And then finally, what we as student leadership are doing to address that problem in our school. Hello. I want to reiterate my name is Dominic Madreal. I'm currently a junior at University High School and some of the things that I'm involved in is LUAC within the school as I'm the communications director and speech and debate as I'm currently the secretary. >> I too am involved in speech and debate. I
029am the president. We spend like every Saturday of our lives at school together. It's very fun. I'm also involved in band, NHS, student council, CSR. We have a lot of diverse perspectives that we take in for our leadership roles and that goes into what we experience in our school district. A couple of the cool things that we experience at university. >> Some of those include the very diverse club base that we have as it provides a space for students to get involved with the school as well as find new niche hobbies and interests. For example, I'm part of LUL like and it provides a space for like Latinos to find a home to dive into their culture and heritage more. whether it's learning more music, dancing, as well as different things, as well as having
030new clubs and activities pop up. Another thing that's really awesome about our school that you've definitely heard of before is the school, the 4-day school week that we implement all throughout the year. That extra Monday that students get off every week really gives them the opportunity to use their agency to further themselves, to further their education, really to get a job or pursue one of their fields in a way that's beneficial for them. giving that control back to the student we think is really important and we appreciate it a lot >> as well to build on with the career and and careers in general currently I'm part of the career academy program as within the district I'm able to attend as community college and I'm currently part of the med prep program and I find
031this program to be very excel like excel excellence for the students as well as it gives them a base to learn and grow as individuals whether it's in different fields as well as gain into those fields Currently, I'm getting my CNA certification as well as learning more about the medical field and it provides such a great opportunity for students to learn as well as get different opportunities they never would have otherwise. The final unique thing to our school that's specific about us being a charter is our charter curriculum. Our teachers, with the most pertinent example being our language arts department, have a lot of control over what they get to teach and when they choose what curriculum they're teaching. That means they get to take a lot of input from students on what they want
032to learn. For just one example, one of our AP lit teachers teaches a superheroes course where basically they take superhero superhero material like comic books and then do critical analyses on those. So they're still engaging in a lot of critical learning while engaging with something that they actually want to do. This will be shocking, but it makes them actually want to learn English, which I think is cool. Mhm. As well as what we want to improve on a school is providing a space for students as clubs and activities, yes, are cool, but we need a space to thrive in as our generation has been more atomized and atomized as increasing social media use as well as phone usage is such a pressing issue for our times. as we lack the social skills to truly build
033upon them and be emotionally intelligent. As we lack third spaces and need spaces just to simply be social and grow and build those connections. The critical thing to realize there is that a lot of adults in administrative positions recognize the main problem which is phones, right? We spend way too many of our waking hours on them and that leaves us nearly no opportunity to connect with our peers. That led our school to implement some phone regulations. Other schools have been doing the same thing. But really, those regulumations mean nothing if you don't facilitate the alternative and actually give students someplace to connect with one another. That's what our advocacy does. We want to approach our school board with an opportunistic plan to actually increase the amount of third spaces within our school. This consists of
034a broad timeline, right, where we're going to establish some deadline to get the third space established. And between now and then, our main goal is going to be taking a bunch of student perspectives on what to do about the problem, where it should be, what should be in our third space, how we should be using our third space, etc. The really key thing here is allowing the students to develop that space for themselves and not allowing it to be something that is overtly controlled by the administration. That puts it back into their hands and makes it something that they've made, which increases their learning and also increases the likelihood that they'll actually use it. and decrease that atomization that Dom was talking about. All in all, we think that increasing the amount of third spaces
035in any school can be a very viable goal of this board and overall implementing some of the things that we've talked about in our school could also be a viable way to push for education in D6. That goes to show that university is pretty cool and we can learn some stuff. Are there any questions? >> Thank you very much for coming. I am sure that there will be some comments. Director Campus Fitzy, >> you're using a term that I'm not familiar with. And is it atomization? Like atoms >> atomization. Yeah. Basically, >> can you define that for? >> Basically, the idea is that Gen Z, especially uniquely with our phones and being able to get pushed into specific echo chambers and various other pods of social organization, don't connect with each other as much as
036we used to, especially compared to 20 years ago. You just don't connect with enough people at your school compared to back then. And once again, a large result of that is because of phones, but it's also because of these third spaces. These spaces that are not homes or school, but rather occupy a third space that allows students to not be able to connect with one another. >> Thank you for clarifying um the definition of that new term. I love that you're talking about third spaces. I think not not just teenagers, but all of society needs a third space um to congregate and and connect. Um, and I wanted to just tell both of you, you're great public speakers. You speak very clearly and get your point across. So, speech and debate is paying off for
037you. [laughter] >> Thank you. >> Yeah, I I don't see any other comments, but I really appreciate you bringing this forward, and it's good to hear the student perspective because we did um put forth a a more stringent cell phone policy for district 6. I know um university and some of the other charters um perhaps had that beforehand, but um I think in order for behavior to change, there has to be ownership of it. So, it's it's nice to hear from young people that you do see that that that is somewhat of a problem. And um yeah, I'm interested to like brainstorm more third spaces, what kinds of things you might be thinking about. Um but yeah, I also agree with Dr. campus see about your speech and debate or it's it's like five paragraph
038essay too the thesis and the three points of the conclusion. So very well done and thank you for being here and I am apologize I didn't mean to skip you earlier just lost my place. >> No offense taken. Thank you so much for having us. >> Yes, have a good evening. >> You too. Thank you. >> Okay. And now Dr. Pilch, we would love to hear from you. Thank you, President Mash. Um, I just have three things. First, I want to uh just remind everyone that on February 12th, it is student day at the Capitol, and both Abby and Sarah along with uh their colleague Levi will be joining some of our schoolboard members and some of our cabinet members down at the cap um to learn more about our legislative session and hopefully to
039advocate on behalf of K12 education. Uh I also wanted to share that we are doing some very intentional conversations around artificial intelligence. As you all know, a year ago, you adopted a new policy around artificial intelligence. And just last week, uh, chief information officer Tony Chak and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources met with, uh, my teachers advisory council to hear their input and their thoughts and and listen to them around uh, issues around artificial intelligence and the work that we still have to do with artificial intelligence. We do have a task force um that will be uh growing and then developing policy around a more policy probably around AI and certainly procedures and practices and uh we know that we know that there are several arms to this the student arm the staff arm uh
040the the district arm and so we'll we'll keep uh you informed as we move forward with the AI work. And then finally I'll just remind you all that the legislative session has begun. Uh, Attorney Fall has sent you all a memo this evening since we did not have an legislative update in the work session about a few things that are already starting to pop up. The school finance act has been introduced. Um, right now it it looks pretty favorable for K12. Um, and we do expect that it will it will probably change um probably dramatically since it's been introduced so early in in the session, but we're we're glad it's out there and we're glad the conversations have begun with the joint budget committee and the other legislators and we're going to watch that carefully.
041So, thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Pilch. The next item on our agenda is our innovation 2030 update um for student learning and achievement goal one graduation rates. So we will welcome Mr. Osmus to the podium [clears throat] some friends joining today. So good evening President Mash members of the board Dr. Pilch council of student reps. My name is Anthony Alsus. the assistant superintendent of secondary and KA leadership and it's our pleasure to provide an update on district 6 on-time graduation work and the efforts in place for continual improvement. I'm joined tonight by our high school principles whom I will recognize later in this presentation. On-time graduation is found within our strategic in our student learning and achievement focus area um in our strategic plan and it falls under our goal one to provide a
042personalized learning exper experience so all students graduate on time and are career and college ready. Our main objective is to align our system to meet grade level requirements and graduation competencies through personalized learning plans for all students. But let's unpack that just a little. This objective is more than just on-time graduation. Our strategic plan also pushes our team to increase academic performance by providing grade level instruction and rigorous coursework. That is why our graduation rate is truly a celebration. You don't always see an increase in on-time graduation while you are increasing rigor for all students. Let's talk about rigor and achievement. First, we have seen a significant increase in advanced placement scholar awards. I want to tell everybody that these awards are a hard they're very hard to achieve. Exams are rigorous and measured on
043a five-point rubric and graded by the college board. For example, to earn an AP Scholar Award, students must score a three or higher on three or more AP exams. To earn an AP Scholar with honors, a student must score at least a 3.25 25 on all AP exams taken and a score of three of a score of three or higher on four or more AP exams. And also to earn an AP Scholar with distinction, a student must receive an average score of at least 3.5 on all AP exams taken and score a three or higher on five or more of these exams. So why is this important? because this past year we've had the most students ever taking advanced placement courses and we have seen an increase every year for the past five years on
044the number of AP scholar AP scholar with honors and AP scholars with distinction awards earned and this is amazing data. Furthermore, we've increased the number of students taking college courses each year. Both last year and this school year, we've had over 1,200 students taking a college course while still in high school at no cost to the student thanks to our voters and the mil levy override which covers the cost of this incredible student opportunity. In addition, students have also dramatically increased the number of industry certificates earned from 90 three years ago to 250 this last year. Also, our SAT scores are the highest level in years. Bottom line, our schools have raised the achievement bar and our students are responding on every measure. Back to on-time graduation. This slide represents the on-time graduation strategic plan
045committee members that meet monthly to look at student data such as number of credits for each student, grades for each class, and then they create a plan for each student to get what they need to graduate on time. This graduation rate is no accident. Because of this focus, we've increased every single student group this year compared to last year, and all are higher than the state average. As a result, we're very proud to announce a 90.1 graduation rate. Listed here are the on-time graduation rates per school, and they all continue to improve each year. Now, let's look at some disagregated data. As we look through these next data charts, you'll see a red line that represents the state average and a blue line that represents the district 6 average. If we go back in time
046to 2017, the district and state were about the same percentage. Um, and since then, we've had steady growth overall for all students. And today, we've achieved a 90.1 ontime graduation compared to the state average of 85.6. This graph depicts our on-time graduation rate for our economically disadvantaged students, which make up 69% of our entire student body. By comparison, the state average for economically disadvantaged students is around 46%. Students achieved an all-time high at 88.7% on time compared to the state which is at 80.3%. Dr. Dr. Belch often says, "Our goal is to educate students out of poverty, out of poverty, and we're on the right track." This graph shows the on-time graduation rate for our students with disabilities, which is now at 83.9% on-time graduation compared to the state's average of 75.7. District 6 has
047a strong focus on inclusion so that all students, regardless of ability or disability, can be in the classroom with their peers and be be held to the same high expectations. Year after year, we've seen a steady increase with this group of students. This data chart shows our limited English proficient students, which is our English language learners. The on-time graduation rate for this group of students is 84.7% compared to 73.2% 2% around the state. We are proud of these numbers since as a district we have over 80 languages spoken. This last graph demonstrates the on-time graduation rate for our Hispanic or Latino student group which is now at 89.4% compared to the state average of 81.2. This is a very important student group to track and support since 65% of all of our students are Hispanic.
048Inside of this data lives our Hispanic males who in 2017 were graduating on time at 68%. This year I'm thrilled to announce that 86.2% of Hispanic males graduated on time. This slide captures a few other major categories and their on-time graduation rate include migrant at 88.1%, title one 79.8%, our homeless population 73.8%, 8% gifted and talented, talented at 98% and foster at 73.6%. Our focus and dedication to every single student is evident in this data. Another another data point that we track is completion rates. Completion rates include students who earn a diploma in their fifth, sixth, or seventh year. Our fifth year completion rate is over 90% while our sixth and seventh year completion rate continues to increase. At various times, we have students that come back to us well after their graduation year to
049want to earn their diploma. And we always welcome them welcome them back. The district's dropout rate this year is 1.2% our lowest we have ever seen compared to the states 1.6%. But it makes sense. The more students you graduate on time, the fewer that will drop out. There's so much that impacts our graduation rate. At this time, I just want to thank the community for supporting district 6, the parents that want the best for their children, the students for finishing regardless of any barrier, and all the teachers, staff members, district operations, and building leaders for their continuous support of all students. But the glue that holds them all together is our building principles. And the closest to this work is our high school principles. Let me introduce our team. Jeff Cranson, the principal at West,
050you can give a little wave. Amy Zulof the principal at Central who can't be here tonight. So Brian Deo is filling in. Erin Allen the principal at Northridge. Larry Green the principal at Jefferson High School. Meredith Allen the principal at Gley Evans Alternative Program. Bill Fern the principal at ECA. And Jorge Gonzalez Mata who is sick this evening. So Cassian Gonzalez AP is filling in for him. This group of leaders is committed to student success and we are so thankful for their leadership. Please help me recognize and thank these principles and our entire District 6 team for this outstanding accomplishment in both achievement and on-time graduation. >> [applause] >> very proud of of every single person that touches this work. Now, we still have a lot of work to do. Um, our next steps are
051to continue our monthly meetings to identify support, ongoing support for every single student. Refine our freshman support program to reduce our freshman failure rate, which is our newest goal, to 10% or less. align our middle school to high school transitions to improve student readiness into high school and now to complete the literacy achievement initiative to build stronger foundation in early literacy. So thank you very much for allowing us to present and we were happy happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you so much. We are so thrilled um and thank you for bringing the high school principles this we we want to thank you and congratulate you personally. Thank you for the culture that you create in your buildings um that allows your staff to do the amazing work they do and your students to
052feel welcome and um ready to come and learn each day. Um we have a few more comments. So, Director Edmmonds. >> Yeah. So, um made a couple notes here. I I do want to just re-emphasize what Anthony said, and it's to thank our community for voting for the Mill Levy override. I mean, we're seeing the impact of that in these numbers that when we say yes to district 6, when we say yes to these measures, it clearly impacts the people that are in our schools. Um, what I just loved to hear again and again, I I always love the points like being above state average. being above state average in a community that, you know, compared to some other communities, we're getting, we were talking about this on Saturday, we're getting $3,000 less per student
053than we are in other districts who graduation rate is maybe one one and a half% higher. So, that's again an an a great accomplishment for what our principles and our teachers, our counselors, everyone is doing for our students, not just at the at the high school level, we see it when they're in kindergarten. just the work that is done from from even preK up through 12th is is and a great accomplishment for our district. Um I think especially the focus and the intention on those special groups to to see that every student matters because truly every student does matter whether they have disabilities, whether English is not their first language, whether they've got an economic disadvantage which we see a lot of in this community. I see it every day through my work of just
054what that impacts. So what it means of what they can get a good education in our schools when they can have the support they need. They have teachers who love them that it can make such an impact for these students to really break that cycle of pro of poverty. Um and so again I just echo the thanks again to what you guys do as principles. We've got Fred Chartis here as well. We've got other teachers. just the work that is done day in and day out to love our students and to let them know that they really do matter um continues to show that we have something very special here in our district. >> Thank you, Director Azari. >> Thank you, President Mash. Uh Anthony, you uh sorry, assistant superintendent. [laughter] Okay. Anyway, we you
055you highlighted some of the uh some of the things that you're going to continue to work on, but what would you say and maybe the principles can answer this. What what systems are in place or what has been done specifically in your opinions that has contributed to this higher graduation rate? Is there something in the system that we have implemented specifically in your opinion that has really resulted in these in these higher rates of success? >> Can you can you pinpoint something? And I know there's a lot of factors at play, but sometimes it comes down to certain elements. >> Yeah. Erin Allen, principal at Northridge. Um, with it being school counselors week, I'll start by saying our school counselors are amazing and they're doing fantastic work to to get our students to graduation. Um,
056I would also say that um the counselors in partnership with with GAP and with Jefferson came up with an idea of dual enrollment. And so it's a really interesting thing that we've come up with where the student goes to either Jefferson or GAP for part of the day and then they're with us for part of the day. there can be a little anxiety as you're trying to head over to um an alternative school and that provides a nice bridge as we make sure that they get their accelerated credits and um we just have fantastic principles over here Larry and Meredith and so just just some good ideas that are coming out of that team. >> Thank you for that. Um, next is doc director Campos Spitzy. >> Um, thank you, uh, Principal Ellen for for
057adding that comment. I actually was talking to a high school teacher this weekend who said he has a student who sleeps through his class and and I'm like, why isn't that student at GAP? And so he he told me, you know, some families have a hard time with the transition. And so, what a cool solution you guys are coming up with with that bridge. Um, I just wanted to comment on the AP Scholars graph and the concurrent enrollment graph. It's consistent growth every year and that takes intention and that takes strategy. That doesn't happen by accident. Um, so I'm just so proud to see the intentionality um that yeah, we're raising the bar in district 6. It's not just a number. 90.1 is not just a number. It really does mean something. Um, so just
058wanted to congratulate y'all for that and and the the slide that has the graduate initiative team. I'm like, what a dream team. I'm reading some of those names. I'm like, how can you fail with this dream team? Um, so thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Director Bentley, >> thank you guys for all this um and all your hard work. I mean, we know it's been a long time in the coming, but um I just wanted to touch on on the maybe the forgotten ones. When I was in high school, the majority of my friends were what we called super seniors. And I wanted to to touch on the on-time graduation versus the other, you know, if you have a dropout rate of 1.2, that leaves 8.7% of students that aren't in these numbers. Um,
059could you maybe touch on what they're up to or your plans with them or how many of them graduate or any of that data that you might have there? >> Yeah. Yeah, I would add we um about about every six weeks we have a group a cohort group that comes together as well to find every single student. So we we sift through the cohort. Um many of the students are with us. Um some we need to go find um they're out of state, out of country, but we we track down every single student and and um some we just can't recover, right? Some it's like I'm working, I need to work, need to work for my family, for myself. Um but we do have a number of students that are still at GAP. We don't
060allow our super seniors at our high schools. And so there you might find them at Jefferson, you might find them at GAP, but we take them until they age out or until they get their degree. And sometimes we still get students that come back to us after they like after the year they should have graduated and said, "Okay, I made a mistake and I need to come back and can I come back and get my degree?" And and we say absolutely. >> Thank you. Uh, Director Limos Garcia, >> I uh just feel like I should make sure that I share some gratitude and thank you all for all the work that you do and the time that you spend with our students. It shows and I just want to say thank you, >> Miss Venegas.
061>> I also just wanted to show my gratitude as a student, right? all your work is absolutely paying off especially for all the opportunities that we receive especially with our dual enrollment classes concurrent enrollment our AP our students are just flourishing and that's all thanks to your work of course and everyone else in those buildings and so just thank you for supporting us and our dream and our careers and what we want to do because every little piece every step is absolutely worth it so thank you >> thank you all for being here and congratulations. Oh, one Dr. Pilch would like to speak as well. >> Thank you, President Mash. Uh I I want to just share one thing. I I really appreciate the high school folks being here tonight. Uh it is so important
062that they are dug into this work and and they're a part of of the graduate initiative team, but also uh it's the work that's happening K through 8 that builds up to this work. There's no question all the work that goes on K through 8 also has an impact on this graduation rate. Um, and to go back to your question, Dorne, a little bit about one thing. I'm I'm excited to learn that we're still continuing to invent and create new ideas to help our students like you talked about, Mr. Allen. And I want to be really clear, this is a result of innovation 2030, which was innovation 2020 to begin with, and and the result of very intentional work designed by the graduate initiative team and designed by our strategic plan steering committee. And uh
063this is some of the earliest work that occurred in our strategic plan clear back when the strategic plan was innovation 2020 back in 2015 1617. Uh this was some of the earliest work. And so you're looking at a a over a decade of work that has just really built as a result of the fine leaders and the fine staff and the dedicated students that we have here in district 6. And that's that's how you get these results. Thank you. >> Yeah, thanks for mentioning that Dr. Pilch. just relentless focus and innovation and and never settling and and continuing to reinvent. So, thank you all for being here and keep up the great work. >> The next item on our agenda is our public participation. As a board, we welcome the comments of community members and
064we dedicate a portion of each business meeting to provide an opportunity for the community to present brief comments. All speakers are limited to two minutes for comments. Our board members typically will not respond, but we may ask our district staff to do so. All written testimony or handouts must be submitted to the board secretary, Miss Amy Lemon. We ask all speakers and those in attendance to conduct themselves in a dignified and non-disruptive manner. Cheering, snapping, clapping, and other distractions are not permitted. Anyone who disturbs order may be required to sit down or to leave the boardroom. Speakers are responsible for their own speech and should refrain from profane or obscene remarks. All remarks must be suitable for an audience that includes kindergarten through 12th grade students. This board is committed to providing a safe environment
065where all members of the school community are treated with dignity and respect. And we expect all speakers to exercise their speech rights responsibly. This evening, we have one speaker, Mr. Javi Lamelli. Welcome, Mr. Lamelly. You will have two minutes. >> Good evening. My name is Jav Lamelly and I'm a brother of the Arani chapter of Lambda Sigma Upon Latino Fraternity at the University of Northern Colorado. I'm here today to speak about something that means more to us than just service. Our Lyft mentorship program, which we run in collaboration with the Gley Dream Team. Lyft stands for leading initiatives for future talent and we started this program last year to mentor young men at Gley West Northridge Early College Academy and Gley Central. Each week we lead interactive workshops on career development, college readiness, resumes, cover
066letters, and mental health. But more than that, we create a space where they feel comfortable and to talk to where what they're going through. Some students came to us with failing grades this last semester, not because they didn't care, but because they may not have the support they need or they just may need a little bit extra help. We worked with them, connected them with teachers and mentors and tutors and helped them catch up in which we saw a lot of success and a lot of them were able to catch up and get their grades up. We also helped stu seniors who doubted themselves and didn't think that college was for them. We sat down with them and we helped them apply to colleges and find scholarships and which was very successful. We were able
067to find some scholarships for a lot of seniors. Uh watching their mindset change from I can to I can is very powerful. Our mentors are college students not much older than them and we went through the similar doubts and we each have our own lows but seeing the impact and achievements of these students really made us um very happy about it. We're also launching the lift high school men's summit at UNCC in which we will bring college senior males into the university and we will have workshops led by our university administration and community leaders. We have actually started applying for grants and sp and sponsorships in which we will be using these funds into this program and giving back to the students that attend our programs through scholarships um mentorship or any equipment they may
068need. I would also like to share that our fraternity offers a $500 scholarship to any graduating male senior every year to any senior that's part of district 6. I would like to take the moment to thank the Gley Dream Team for allowing us to join them in collaborating with them and for them believing in our mission in our program. They're an organization that doing really great things in our community. Thank you guys so much for the opportunity. >> Thank you for being here. The next item on our agenda is our consent agenda, which is an action item. >> I move that the board of education agree 11 school district 6 approves items as presented on the consent agenda and authorizes the officers to sign any and all contracts. >> Second. Thank you both. Is there
069any discussion on the motion? Seeing none, Miss Lemon, we please call a vote. Director, >> I. >> Director Bentley, >> I. >> Director Campos Spitzy, >> I. Director Edmonds. >> I, >> Dr. Lamos Garcia, >> I. >> Director Mash, >> I. >> Director Roi, >> I. >> Motion carries 70. >> The next item on our agenda is a first read of the 2026 27 and 2728 school year calendars. I see Miss Crane approaching. uh Dr. Piltch and the board for allowing us to present our calendar proposals. I am joined at the podium by Miss Erin Snder, our GA president and the co-chair of the calendar committee. We'd like to very briefly talk through some of the highle items that are on our uh calendar proposals this year. uh you did actually I would remind you
070uh approve a 2627 calendar last year. So we are bringing this back to you with one small change that we would ask you to approve this year and then we are also presenting you with the 2728 calendar. So we have another year out again. Uh some of the highlights for next year. None of this has changed from when you approved it previously, but we do have start dates for students in August. Our first through 12th graders will begin August 10th and our preschool and kindergarten students again on the 13th. Uh Thanksgiving break is that fourth week in November. Winter break is the last two weeks of December. Spring break coincides in March with Ames and UNC spring breaks. And then we are continuing our mid-semester breaks in October and April. our staff, our new teachers
071will return the last four days in July for their new professionals academy. Uh we will be maintaining our late start Mondays as well. So we'll have that time for professional development and individual teacher prep and planning time. Uh again, our semesters as usual are balanced. First semester 84 days and second semester 86 days. Here is a look at the calendar as a whole. And we do have the change highlighted there in October. You'll see the arrow moving the day that was the day off, vacation day on October 19th to uh Monday, October 12th. That was a change that was prompted by our teachers. Was a request that we have that vacation day immediately following the parent teacher conference on October 9th. you will see a very similar calendar. Our 2728 proposal uh mirrors directly the
072calendar that we have proposed with the additional change from 2627. Uh both of these calendars were developed with uh many many collaborators. We have uh representation from across the district from our parents. Uh we were able to gather feedback from our students. uh the thank you very much to the student council of representatives that allowed us to come and and present to them, gather feedback. Uh and then we will be presenting to our district accountability committee tomorrow evening as well for additional feedback. And we would love to hear any comments or questions at this time. Thank you for the presentation and um we were able to ask some questions and have a conversation during our work session, but this is excellent for anyone watching at home. And um I would just reiterate our gratitude to
073the calendar committee um for getting this out in a two-year two years at a time really helps families and students and staff. And I'm not seeing any comments or questions at this time. So, we'll look forward to voting on it next time. >> Thank you. Thank you. The la Let's see here. Yes. The last item on our agenda is our budget year revision. And so, is it you? I will ask Dr. Phelch to lead this section. >> Thanks, President Mash. and we'll bring our chief financial officer, Megan Sponsor, to the podium should you have questions. Um, but you have an extensive report here about the the budget revisions we're recommending. This is a an an annual process we go through. >> We do have to make a motion. I apologize. >> Apologize. >> It's my
074move that >> I was on such a roll. >> I know. I I don't know why I'm not reading in order tonight. I move that the board of education of Weld County School District 6 approves the 2025 20226 revised budget. This includes a total appropriation of $472,82,412, the transfer of funds from the general fund and the use of beginning fund balance where required as presented in the revised budget document. >> Second. >> Thank you. As you were Dr. [laughter] Thank you, President Mash. So, as I was saying, um I you have uh an extensive report here. Uh this is an annual process we go through where we typically revise the budget annually before uh January 31st which state law allows us to do. Uh and you're you're aware that there's a need for some transfer
075due to um a little bit of shortfall of of student count and also that we our desire to possibly purchase um a piece of real estate that is likely coming onto the market and um and then to to transfer to the insurance reserve fund. We're happy to take questions if you have them. We really appreciate the um the method of getting this information out to us where we get to have smaller um group meeting or you know two two by two meetings so that we can really dig into it. And so we've already picked Miss Monellor's brain on this. Um, I think it's pretty straightforward and I'm not seeing any questions or comments at this time. So, we will go ahead and take a vote. Director Zari, >> I. >> Director Bentley, >> I. >>
076Director Campos Spitzy, >> I. >> Director Edmonds, >> I. >> Director Lamos Garcia, >> I. >> Director Mash, >> I. >> Director Roi, >> I. Motion carry 70. >> Thank you all for tuning in on this cold January evening. Have a great week. This meeting is adjourned. >> [music] >> Hey there. [music] Hey [music] >> [music] [music] >> Number one. [music] >> [music] [music]